Personal Research Journey

Light-Up Baby Touch Tablet from Vtech

As an early childhood educator and grandparent of infants and toddlers, the impact of electronic toys on infant and toddler development is both a professional and personal interest. As seen in commercials and advertisements, the companies that make these toys with flashing lights and sounds make the claim that their toys foster development. Of course, parents and others run out and buy these toys for their young children, relatives, and friends. As a child development specialist and early childhood teacher of the youngest of children, I have my doubts that these toys actually foster development significantly; therefore,  I would like to explore this topic further. I seek to answer the general question, “What is the impact of electronic toys on infant and toddler development?” I have narrowed my general topic down to three subtopics which relate to the quality of young children’s play, the importance of child/adult interactions in the early years, and language development. Research show the importance of active, imaginative and explorative play to children’s development across all domains of development including developing language (Levin & Rosenquest, 2001).  Studies also find that the characteristics of child and adult interactions are important to the quality of young children’s play and development.  Since the  characteristics of child and adult influences the quality of play and what children learn, we can assume that the characteristics of children’s interactions with toys also influence the quality of play and development (Levin & Rosenquest, 2001). The topic I have decided to explore for my research simulation is:  In what ways do infant and toddler’s interactions with electronic toys influence the quality of their play and development?  

http://vtech.com

 So far, the information in our textbook, assigned readings, research charts, and applications as well as our discussions have been helpful in understanding research as a tool, in choosing a topic, as well as in narrowing it down, and in understanding reading formal research. I expect this will continue as the course progresses and I work on the simulation. The problems I am experiencing are locating credible resources related to the ways that infant and toddler’s interactions with electronic toys influence the quality of their play and development and managing my time as locating resources can be time consuming. If anyone knows of credible resources on this topic, please share them. Also, any suggestions for managing time and for locating resources is much appreciated.

Reference

Levin, D.E. & Rosenquest, B. (2001). The increasing role of electronic toys in the lives of infants and toddlers: Should we be concerned? Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood. (2) 242-247, doi:10.2304/ciec.2001.2.2.9. Retrieved from http://cie.sagepub.com/